Smith: Scioscia honors his high school coach

MOORPARK – Angels manager and baseball dad Mike Scioscia stepped to the podium in a crowded Moorpark Country Club banquet room last Monday to begin the entertainment portion of the evening.

He's known for roasting his friends with one-line skewers, then shamelessly goading them into opening their wallets to bid on live charity auction items ranging from high-end Angels memorabilia and baseball experiences to this night's bundt cake with an opening bid of $1 dollar.

He kicked in a nice bottle of wine, top-shelf vodka, five Cuban cigars and four Diamond Club tickets to get the cake going, going, gone for $700.

This was vintage Scioscia, working the room of more than 250 friends at his ninth annual charity golf tournament that raised more than $100,000 for Southern California youth baseball programs through the Amateur Baseball Development Group.

But this evening was a bit different from years past because Scioscia would later step aside on the stage to get needled by his guest of honor.

Gusts of 20 to 30 mph had pounded and swirled through the three nine-hole courses all day, turning Par 3 holes into what could have been Par 9s. Yet everyone played through, chapped lips, wind-burned cheeks, lost golf balls and all.

"You guys were awesome today, real troopers in the wind," the gracious Scioscia said to open the program. "I think the Angels played in that wind the first six weeks of the season."

Scioscia, 53, made no other mention of the 2012 Angels season of high expectations that ended short of the playoffs. He didn't even, in good humor in front of his fans and supporters, flex his confidence and predict at future Angels World Series.

He guided the Angels to the 2002 championship. He will return again in 2013 for a 14th season, the longest continuous tenure of any manager in the majors.

But on this night, Scioscia cranked down the humor at times, kept the focus on amateur baseball and raised money to save the game for the youngsters who need teams, leagues and even baseballs to play.

Some yearly attendees said this night might have been one of Scioscia's more "personal" appearances because he publically recalled his own amateur beginnings.

"As you go through life, you meet some special people," he said. "As you get a little distance and look in your rearview mirror, you realize how special they are and how special they were to you."

Scioscia presented the first ABDG Lifetime Achievement Award to his former coach Harry "Ace" Bell of Springfield High in Morton, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb in Delaware County.

Bell climbed gingerly to the podium, received a standing ovation and then put the comedic screws to Scioscia.

"When I heard about this catcher down in junior high who was coming up, I heard he hit .190 something in eighth grade and thought 'What are they talking about?'" Bell recalled. "It wasn't true. He came up the next year and hit .532. Of course, he didn't have any leg hits!"

Scioscia, who has joked that scouts used an egg timer rather than a stopwatch to clock his foot speed, laughed and blushed.

"I taught him how to steal bases, too," Bell said. "Of course, we never used it (those lessons) that often."

After getting in his jabs, Bell told the audience that "Mike, without a doubt, was the most outstanding player I had."

Scioscia, capitalizing on the crowning moment in front of several Springfield baseball alumni in the crowd, asked Bell to repeat the compliment.

"Wait," Bell, jumping back to the microphone, "Maybe I didn't say that right. You were the best hitting catcher that batted left handed."

A black and white photo of young Scioscia and Bell flashed on the 60-inch flatscreen that was a raffle prize.

Scioscia recalled playing basketball in his yard in 1976 when Bell called him to come over to the school to take a photo for the Springfield Press. That day, Scioscia hopped in his family's Gran Torino and drove the mile to the ball field.

"Thanks for dressing," Bell told Scioscia, who was wearing a beat-up white T-shirt featuring a caricature of Vice President Spiro Agnew with Mickey Mouse ears.

"I'll be 3,000 miles away playing baseball (when the photo runs in the paper)," said Scioscia, who was drafted in the 1976 first round (19th overall) by the Dodgers.

Even after a 15-year playing career and 13-year managing career, after winning two World Series as a Dodger and one as an Angel manager, Scioscia doesn't forget his roots and the people who "touched my heart."

"We played baseball (at Springfield High) for a coach that cared, a coach that got it," said Scioscia, the 2002 and 2009 A.L. Manager of the Year. "He wasn't just there for guys like myself ... who went on to play professional baseball but for the 25th guy on the roster, guys who weren't going to play baseball past high school."

Scioscia praised Bell as the coach more concerned about his players as young men, who wanted to know about their families and their lives outside of the diamond.